Catherine Crockett

I wanted to go to Eeriecon. I used to go, I missed getting to go, and well, now...crossing the US border is daunting enough without wondering if someone is going to make nebulous false accusations about me and my travelling companions.

Last year, outspoken homophobic crazy, John Allan Price, [who was an 'honored guest' of the con] bragged about how he had 'warned' the Niagara Falls border guards that 'associates' of Peter Watts were travelling to the US to cause trouble. This was immediately before Eeriecon 12 [which is in Niagara Falls, NY] and about four days before the Watts sentencing. It was a malicious thing to do to people who were travelling to Port Huron to support Peter. Nothing actually happened, but I'm sure everyone's stress level was high enough without that. [Price also ranted about how Watts deserved getting beaten, etc. What a charmer.]

All this for an incredibly minor has-been. Why do they want him so badly that they are willing to forgo having Canadian members? [The nearest large city to Eeriecon is Toronto. Self-foot-shooting behaviour, anyone?] Why do they want him so badly that they put up with his overt bigotry?

Eeriecon is probably the only con left that programs Price at all. A poll of programming staff seems to turn up three responses:

1. John Allen who?2. Oh no, we banned him for engaging in abusive, lengthy, off-topic, homophobic rants during program items he was on.3. Him? Meh. We haven't programmed him in years.

Eeriecon is, once again, listing him as an 'honoured guest'. This is revolting.